The next time people go Christmas shopping, the Salvation Army hopes they will make a donation to its Angel Tree program.

There's just a little more than a week left to donate, and donations are down in Howard County.

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"Here is a skateboard. Somebody went out and bought that," Maj. Gene Hogg, Salvation Army Commander Central Maryland.

It's a Christmas wish inside a box that someone bought for a 10-year-old named James, a name on Angel Tree chosen with care, and Hogg said there are 2,000 more boxes just like his inside the Salvation Army's Warehouse in Waverly.

"Many of our parents are either not working or considered the working poor hard. It's very hard for the people who are working to reach out and ask for help," Hogg said.

Thanks to donations, the Salvation Army Angel Tree Program is able to make Christmas happen for 4,000 to 5,000 kids in need, from newborns to 13 years old. People can find a tree at an area mall, pick and angel and go shopping.

"It will have the first name, the gender and what they're asking for. You can take that off the tree, go shopping for them just like you do your children, bring it back to the tree, and we'll bring it back here to the warehouse," Hogg said.

For those who can't get to an Angel Tree or maybe only afford to buy one toy, the Salvation Army can still use the help to fill in the gaps for those forgotten angels.

Hogg said donations are down in Howard County where about 300 angels still need to be adopted.

"Unfortunately, not every child gets adopted, so we know who they are, and if they're not adopted, we'll take these unadopted angels, get the toys together, put it in a box so that every child will be able to get a toy," Hogg said.